Sleigh-shoe



(NoModel.) v T E. D. CANNON.

Sleigh Shoe.

No 242,109. Patented May 31,1881.

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' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

E.- DWIGHT CANNOIQOF PLEASANT VALLEY, CONNECTICUT.

SLElGH-SHOE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,109, dated May 31, 1881.

Application filed March 14, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, E. DWIGHT CANNON, of Pleasant Valley, in the county of Litchfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sleigh- Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in sleigh-,shoes in which hardened-steel-faced 1o wrought-iron shoes are provided with a longitudinal dovetailed groove upon their upper side, in combination with bolts having dovetailed heads and adaptedto he slipped longitudinally within said groove to any desired 1 5 point; and the objects of my improvements are to furnish a read y-made hardened-steel-faced shoe which can be applied to old sleighs and have the bolts in the runners and braces located at the same point as before reshoeing the sleigh, or so that the bolts may be set at any 0 Sleigh-shoes have heretofore been madeof plain cast-iron, chilled cast-iron, wrought-iron, steel, and iron faced with steel. In using the last-named material it has been customary to fit the shoe to the particular sleigh for which 3 5 it was designed and-make the bolt-holes before the shoe was hardened. But few of the ordinary jobbing blacksmiths have conveniences for hardening an article of the length of a sleigh-shoe, and therefore, even when steel- 0 faced shoes have been used they have generally been put on without being hardened, and are therefore but little, if any, better than iron.

I intend to make the shoes complete as a new article of manufacture and harden them at the 5 factory, so as to put them in the market ready hardened and adapted for application to either old or new work. 7

I take bars of iron having a steel face, cut

- them into the desired length, and draw out the forward end as thin as may be desired. I then form, by milling or in any proper manner, a

longitudinal groove, a, in the iron side of the shoe A, which groove is of a dovetailed form in cross-section, as shown in Fig. 2, or made in other form to hold a bolt-headas, for instance, T-shaped. The shoe is then bent into the required form at the front end, after which the straight portion is hardened. The hardenin g process may also be extended upward on the curved front end so far as the ordinary wear extends. When it is to be applied, if the curve of the shoe and runner do not correspond, the nnhardened portion can readily be bent into the required shape, and the hardened portion, by being of combined wrought-iron and steel, may be changed by peening the wrought-iron side of the shoe.

I fit the heads I) of the bolts B to the groove a, so that they may slide longitudinally to any desired point in the groove. These heads are dovetailed in one direction, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, to fit the groove, and so that they cannot be withdrawn or inserted except at the ends of the groove.

' In old work, when a sleigh is reshod it is very desirable to have the bolts located at the same'points as before, so as to fit the holes in the runners and braces, whereby the same are not weakened by making new holes. In new work the bolts should be located with reference to the braces, which vary in different sleighs. It is therefore impossible to locate the bolts at the proper points either for old or new runners except by locating them specially for each particular pair of runners, and consequently ready-made shoes cannot be furnished with bolt-holes properly located at all the points requiring bolts.

By making the shoe with the longitudinal groove and having the bolts made to slide longitudinally in said groove, as shown, they can be brought to the proper point to match any old hole or to fit abrace, and then fastened, so that I am enabled to furnish a ready-made shoe with ahardened-steel face, which is adapted to be readily attached to any runner of the same length and thickness, and with the bolts located at any desired point.

The shoes will be made in regular lengths and widths to fit all the ordinary sizes of runners.

If desired, a few holes might be made in the shoes before hardening for bolts to go into the runners, and the adjustable bolts and groove be used to match the braces.

I am aware that a prior patent shows a cast 5 sleigh-shoe having short slots with overhanging side walls in the upper side to receive and hold bolt-heads, but the position of the bolt therein Waslocated praetically the same as if it were furnished with ordinary bolt-holes. Said 10 prior sleigh-shoe is hereby disclaimed.

I claim as my invention- 1. As a new article of manufacture, a hardenedsteel faced wroughtiron sleigh shoe adapted for ready application, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

2. The steel-faced shoe having the groove (1, in combination with the bolts b,adjustable longitudinally in said groove to any desired point, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

E. DWIGHT CANNON. Witnesses: JOHN EDWARDS, J r., JAMES SHEPARD. 

